“Oh, Anna, could you come out of your lamp for me?” I heard my Mistress’s summons, though I somehow knew she did not hold the lamp. Still, the laws that bound me forced me to go to her.

I swirled and reformed in front of her, wearing a proud and honest smile as I did. The journey from the lamp still felt like the best roller coaster I could ever imagine. I stood in my Mistress’s living room, a space cramped by a too-large Christmas tree that glowed white light in the otherwise dim room.

My Mistress lounged on her couch nearby and slipped out her heels. She had just returned from her party and wore a sparkling green dress, black tights, and a silly elf hat with floppy cloth ears.

“Hi again, Mistress,” I said with a comfortable bow, “how was your party?”

“Great!” She said, and I smelled a little alcohol on her breath. She seemed lighter and looser than before. “How was your lamp? I hope you didn’t mind going back inside.” She said.

I shook my head, “Fine, and you needn’t worry about me, Mistress.” I noticed then that my Mistress had set out a bottle of wine and two stem glasses on her coffee table near the lamp.

“Please don’t do that. Just because you’re a Genie doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t important. They are to me, and they should be to all your Masters. Speaking of, did you think about what I asked you?”

I nodded while picking up the wine bottle and poured one glass of amber liquid, which I handed to my Mistress. “I did,” I said.

“And?” My Mistress said, while taking the glass from me. She sat up and watched me with eager eyes.

“I’d like to return to being human,” I said. My Mistress processed this, narrowing her eyes some, and leaning back in the couch. She held her wine with a light grasp and looked me over. I stood firm in my slippers and pantaloons under her gaze.

“Oh, really?”

“I can’t lie to you, Mistress.”

She took a sip from her wine and looked off, thinking. “I believe you,” she said at last. I relaxed my unknowingly tense shoulders.

“Sit down, Anna,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically firm. The compulsion to obey worked through me and made me walk to the couch, sitting on it as she had, curling my legs up. Turning inward to watch her.

“Of course, Mistress,” I said. I thought a small wall had been put up between us. My Mistress felt reserved. She still thought about what I had told her.

“What will you wish for, after you’re free?” My Mistress asked, a question so bold I rocked back some.

“I...don’t know,” I said. If the question surprised me, my answer stunned me. Before I went into the lamp, I had many wishes I wanted granted. Now, none seemed very important.

My Mistress smiled a little. “Your vacation ends in a few days, and then you get your wishes. And you haven’t thought about what you want?”

“Yes. But,” I said, refocusing myself, “this is embarrassing. I’m your Genie, and I should be asking what you want, Mistress.”

She rolled her eyes and hmmmed. “I would like my and my brother’s student loans paid off.”

I smiled, “That’s a good wish. Just say the magic word and I’ll be happy to grant it for you.”

My Mistress took a sip of her wine and I saw a twinkle in her eye. A twinkle more meaningful than just getting her wish. “Why?” she asked.

“I’m your Genie, Mistress. I am bound to grant your wish,” I said, not understanding why she asked why.

“But you don’t have to be happy about it, do you?”

My mouth fell open before my Genie instincts compelled me to answer. “No, Mistress, I do not.”

She leaned in to me, her smile becoming wider. “So why are you so happy to grant my wish?”

“Because then I’ll get another wish after my vacation,” I said, getting off the couch.

My Mistress groaned, “Ugh, we’ve been over this. You don’t care about those wishes. You don’t even know what to do with them.”

I bit my fingernails, and looked at the shackle on my wrist, then at the lamp, then at my harem costume. “Mistress, just because...”

“Genie,” my Mistress said, putting her glass down, “for the next minute, you will forget about receiving extra wishes after your vacation. Now, do you still want to grant my wish?”

“Yes, because it’s a good wish and you’re a good Mistress who deserves it. That doesn’t mean I want to stay a Genie, and that I don’t want my freedom,” I said, anticipating my Mistress’s next maneuver. I failed.

“Then, I can just free you now. Better to have two or three extra days of freedom than to be stuck in a bottle, right? ‘Cause the other option is I give you to my brother, and you grant his wish. Maybe, if he’s quick enough, you can grant another wish for another Master after him.”

“I...” didn’t know what to say. I struggled to work up an answer to my Mistress. “I wouldn’t like that, because it would mean you used a wish for me. Your wish should be for something you want.”

“I want this kickass Genie named Anna to have what she wants. And if you can be all selfless and giving of yourself, why can’t I?” My Mistress said, standing up and walking to me.

“You can, of course. But...but maybe you should be a Genie.”

My Mistress shrugged, “Nah. I wanna be a kids book author when I grow up. I think I’ll write a book about a girl who gets turned into a Genie, and then finds out she likes it. Might take her a little bit to figure it out, though.”

“That’s not...that’s not what’s happening here,” I said.

“Anna, I think your heart,” she said, putting her hand on my chest, “knows what it wants. It’s time for your brain to figure it out, too.”

“Mistress, I...” fell silent, confused. I wanted my freedom. Of course I did, because I wanted what came after. A career. A family. Love. Vacations. I wanted out of the lamp. Right?

“Relax, Anna. I don’t think this is really your decision to make.” My Mistress said before turning around. She went back to pick up something from the couch, something she had hidden there. I saw a red box, one of the ones I had wrapped for her early today. She handed it to me. “Merry Christmas, Anna. I thought I should get you a present.”

I took it gingerly and lifted the top, then pushed aside the layer of tissue paper. I gasped as I saw it: a crystal vase with a long, thin neck. Made only from glass, it had triangles and diamonds cut into the surface that did wonderous things with light.

“More living space in there then the lamp, right? My aunt has had this since she got married, but chipped it a few years ago,” Mistress pointed to a tiny notch in the top, barely visible unless you knew what to look for, “and she thought it was ruined. I bartered it back from her. Stole it, I guess. I want it to be your bottle.”

“I’d like...to be free.” I said, looking at my Mistress with pleading eyes. It was the truth. It had to be the truth. My heart pounded, but I could not put away the doubt in my mind. What if I really did want to be a Genie?

“Like I said, I don’t think that’s your decision to make anymore.” My Mistress took in a deep breath. “Ok. Here goes.”

“Anna, I have a wish. It comes in three parts. For the first part of my wish, I wish that you paid my and my brother’s student loans in full.”

I set the bottle down and pressed my hands together, “Your wish is my command,” and my magic reached across the world at my Mistress’s command, depositing all the funds to the two accounts to wipe them out.

“For the second part of my wish, I wish that this bottle,” she pointed, “could properly hold a Genie.”

I nodded, “Your wish is my command.” I reached into the world of magic and discovered the intricate bindings that created Genie vessels, which I copied and laid into the bottle. The Christmas tree lights that played off its surface tinted pink.

I stared at the botte;, my soon to be vessel. I couldn’t tell if happy tears or sad tears began to well in my eyes. My Mistress came to me and gave me a long hug before she made her wish.

“You’re a great Genie. Remember that.” She said. Then she whispered in my ear, “Anna, for the final part of my wish, I wish for you to become and remain the Genie of this bottle until a Master wishes you free.”

“Your wish is my command,” I whispered back. The bond between Veronica and I broke, and my body dissolved into glittering smoke and light even as she hugged me. My new bottle commanded me into its crystal form. Like an apple to the earth, I fell into it. Here I would stay, as cloud and dust, until a Master or Mistress called me out, so I would serve them.

My vacation in the lamp ended. My life in my bottle began.